Today we headed to Wilmington to see our daughter, Erica. That is Wilmington, North Carolina not Wilmington, California, Ohio, or Delaware. Last year, Erica told us she planned to go to North Carolina for a friend’s wedding. How could we pass up an easy opportunity to see our baby?
Someone asked me if I planned to blog about this trip. I replied, “Blogging is my only reason for traveling these days”. That was a joke of course but traveling has become so stressful a lot of the fun has been taken out of it. For example they ask you to arrive 2 hours early for a domestic flight and 3 hours ahead of departure for international travel. That alone is enough to discourage you. My friend, Mike, offered to take us to the airport and traffic was crazier than usual. It was so bad that if I said I owe MIke one, I would be lying. I owe him two.
So we flew into Wilmington, North Carolina last night and this morning got to see our girl.
The three of us walked around the town a bit and took an uneventful boat tour on part of the Cape Fear river. Our guide told us that the movie entitled “Cape Fear” supposedly took place in this area. The movie makers took some poetic license since the picture was actually filmed in Georgia and Florida. As you can tell from the sign below, this tour did not have me in mind.
But let’s get to what the followers of this blog really want, PICTURES OF FOOD! Patrice found a great restaurant called “Flying Machine Oyster Bar” [530 Causeway Dr T-1, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480 (910) 239-9474]. Knowing how much I like to drink, doesn’t this seem like my kind of place? We were told they were known for their fish which is something I do like.
Our waiter, Anthony, gave us a run down of what to expect from the variety of dishes. Monday night they have a special of raw oysters for $1 each. Erica wanted to try one. We asked Anthony if there was a minimum we could order and he said no. But there was a maximum. We could only order 36 or less. I think we could safely stay under that maximum since neither Patrice nor I wanted any. We ordered 4 and when they arrived I have to say I was intrigued. As you might know I am not into sushi. I like my food dead and cooked so for me to give raw oysters a try was a real adventure. See below.
I saw Erica eat one so I had to give it a try. I have to admit, it was not bad. Actually it was quite good. I would have had more but we had lots of yummy stuff on the way. I ordered the Shrimp and Grits. I have a rule, never order Shrimp and Grits above the Mason Dixon Line. We are well south of that demarcation so I had at it.
Patrice and Erica shared an entree (Lobster Mac and Cheese) and an appetizer (Pork Wings). I found the idea of pork wings especially interesting since I never knew pigs could fly.
Many thanks to our server, Anthony, who made sure we didn’t make any errors with our order.
Like I said I better hit the gym to work off some of those calories (I failed to tell you about the gelato we had earlier in the day). Actually, I think I will lie down until my gym urge passes.
See you tomorrow when they are predicting an 85% chance of rain. Ugh.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 